Class

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New textbooks, sharp pencils, blue markers, clean whiteboards -

A desk-studded bird cage for parrots, well-taught.

With rote recitation of ready responses

They mimic

Their teachers,

With words they know not.

Watch-It Wednesday: Ice Women

Lauren and I were both nominated for the ice bucket challenge this past week, and decided that right after a run was the perfect time to do it! I'd been slightly perturbed by how many people simply donated to the ALS Association without doing some homework on it, first. Thus, my spiel:

It's always been a dream of mine to willingly stand still whilst being dumped with buckets of ice water - NOT! But anyway, thanks, Katie.  I'm nominating Karen Jenkins, Titus Copper, and Katelyn Dawkins to join the fun. You're welcome.  Please know that the ALS Association funds embryonic stem cell research and is therefore not an organization we as Christians should mindlessly support. You three are nominated to donate to a RESEARCHED organization for any cause for which you have a heart. Ice water and $10, or $100 and no ice water. Ready - go! 

Have a cool Wednesday!

30 Day Book Challenge! Catching Up...

Well, this didn't quite shape up correctly toward the end, did it? I began so that my 30th day would be the last day of July...and by Jove I'll finish tomorrow. Meaning, of course, that I'm about to answer four of my daily questions right now, and an identical number tomorrow. Nothing like making deadlines by the skin of your teeth!

Day 23: What is a book you once hated, but now love? Why?

I have no answer for this question, and I blame it entirely upon the fact that I am terribly stubborn. I do not think I have ever, ever given a second chance to a book I disliked. There are a few that come to mind that I think I may like a bit better if they were given a another read-through...well, there is one, at least. But with so many good books in the world, I have never had the time to have my mind changed on the "bad" ones. Boring answer, I'm afraid.

Day 24: What is your favorite series?

As any self-respecting Lewis fan would answer: Narnia! Not only for the great imagination of the stories, or the heart-resonating analogies, or the way Lewis has of describing the indescribable, but also for the memories of all the years dad read the series to us - over and over until the paperbacks fell to pieces - at the dinner table, screeching for Lasaraleene's lines or pausing to allow us to contemplate a truth.

Day 25: What is the nerdiest book you've ever read?

I don't read science fiction (besides, of course, C.S.Lewis' space trilogy - but that was still not really in the "nerd" category), I've never read a "how-to" book, and even nerdy subjects in my sphere (analyzing chord progressions, music theory, etc) have always been learned verbally or kinesthetically, not by reading. 

Given these considerations, I would say, simply, that I've never read a nerdy book. 

...and then, I think about all the times I begin to describe almost any book I'm reading (barring fictional books) to someone who unsuspectingly asks, "What book is that?" Almost without fail (I can count the exceptions on one hand), the eyes glaze over, an impatient wiggle of hand or foot commences, and as my voice slowly fades away with their attention, they inform me, "that's a bit too deep for me," or "I can't really focus in books like that," or "I just read fiction."

Given these considerations, I would say, simply, that all I read is nerdy books.

Day 26: What is your favorite kind of nonfiction book?

Ahhh, what a fitting follow-up question. I love books that make you think...that analyze and identify ideologies, philosophies, and mentalities - where people stand, and how they arrived at their conclusions. Would you call that Christian philosophy? But I don't think it could be limited to just one genre like that...

Would love to hear your answers to any and all of these questions! :)

30 Day Book Challenge! Day 5: Stranded

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I am overwhelmed by how many good books there are to read in the world. Overwhelmed, and, truth be told, a little depressed at times. With so many challenging, mind-stretching books out there, I rarely feel like I have time to make it through a "chewing" book more than once. However, this sentiment made today's question quite easy.

Day 5: If you were stranded on a dessert island (and apparently had sufficient fore-warning to pack your bags) which five books would you bring, and why?

Easy. Peasy. This question may as well be, "Which five books do you desperately long to re-read and study?"

1. My Bible

It is, quite literally, my life. I would never want to be anywhere without it.

2. Orthodoxy, by G.K. Chesterton

I only just finished this book in the last week, and I already wish I could go through it again. Actually, I wish I could compare it to the next book I'm going to list, and study it point by point, creating my own references for and/or against every statement Chesterton makes.

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3. The Book That Made Your World, by Vishal Mangalwadi

Even as I read this book through the first time, I mourned the absolute treasure trove of facts, resources, and conclusions that my mind could not, in their entirety, contain. I came away with a good over-view impression, but if I had me some good desert-island-stranding time, I would analyze, compare, and practically memorize all the wonderful insights Mr. Manglawadi shares.

4. Till We Have Faces, by C.S. Lewis

Being a story (and thereby quicker, lighter reading), I have high hopes that I truly may read this again in the near future. Lewis' retelling of Greek mythology's goddess, Psyche, was beautiful. I began it apprehensively, trusting Lewis would come through for me and not be too bizarre. I came away with a new, unspeakable awe for God, which is far too often lacking in the modern Christian's theology. How did Lewis write for this result? I don't know. Which is why it's on the re-read list!

5. The Age of Revelation, by Elias Boudinot

This is one book I actually haven't finished. It is so-so-so-so good, but I was reading it during a time in life when my only book time was 11pm and beyond. Boudinot's writing style (being from the days of our Revolution) and subject matter (the point-by-point refutation of Thomas Paine's The Age of Reason) was simply too thick for such late bedtime reading. I will finish it, though...on a desert island!

To Forget This Day

I love anniversaries. Dates of special epiphanies, events, or decisions always have - and always will be - worth celebrating. In a way, each day is mini-anniversary, marked by annual spiritual and intellectual growth, memorialized on the journal pages of by-gone years. Revelations gained, friendships forged, and the beauty of triumph through deepest pains - these are events to hold often before us, with teachable and thankful spirits.

But some things are best, forgotten.

At the ripe old age of 7, mom and dad began cautioning me about what I allowed my eyes to see: magazines in the store, movies at friends' houses, and even words in books. "Once an image is in your mind," my dad explained, "you can never completely erase it."  Even so, there are, tucked away in a dusty back corner of my mind, images I wish away. Yet, by the grace of my Savior, these pictures and thoughts are essentially forgotten. I do not see them, think about them, or relive them. My mind has been reborn to think on more excellent things.

However, until beauty and grace have filled the ugly spaces, distasteful memories - anniversaries of sin - cannot be forgotten. Today marks such an anniversary. Forty-one years ago today was made the most devastating, cold-blooded ruling this nation has ever seen. Forty-one years ago today, Roe v Wade reached its verdict.

True it is that the triumph of evil asks only for the passiveness of good. At a rally I attended this past Sunday, I learned that there are more "pro-life young people" in the States today than there were the year before Roe v Wade. While this is progress, I could not help wondering if there were actually more young people, or simply more young people willing to stand. Who among us is passionate and willing to stand up on an unchallenged issue? If there is no debate about the morality of stealing, do we still uncompromisingly teach that it is wrong? Or do we passively neglect the discussion, merely cringing when "exceptions" are made? What issues do we avoid "giving all diligence" in, because the final line hasn't yet been drawn on the wrong side, forcing our hands? Did abortion blind-side the Christians of the '70s?

Fifty-six times the bell rang on Sunday. Fifty-six. Each soul-shattering clang remembered not ten, not a hundred, not a thousand, but one million still, silent hearts. One million faces that will never wrinkle up in tears, smooth out at the sight of mama, or laugh at papa's silly antics. One million pairs of shoes that will never be tied. One million hugs that will never cling to a lonely neck.

Fifty-six times clanged the bell. Fifty-six million dead.

And I wept. Wept for the little ones who will never be, wishing I could hold them close and protect them from such carnage. Wept for the mothers who have thus ended so many lives, longing to hug them, and tell them about the unconditional, overpowering love and forgiveness my Father has for them. Wept for the desolation with which this country has brought upon and so injured itself.

In these brief 41 years, we have multiplied in unborn, innocent blood - by more than 2500% - the first 215
years of American military deaths. In these short 41 years, we, the people of the United States, have ended the lives of more than the combined populations of Canada and Romania. In these mere 41 years, millions have been lied to about the precious infants in their wombs, have been swindled, or allowed to remain willfully ignorant, as they become party to the destruction of lives.


This is a story with no happy ending - yet. But hope abounds. Abortion rates are dropping in the States, slowly and surely. While there are still thousands of abortion victims, there are also thousands who have been rescued: snatched from death by the prayers, sacrifices, and tireless efforts of those who see each life as sacred.

Oh, so sacred.

Increasingly, the personhood of the child in the womb will be a non-issue in a society that has lost its belief in the dignity of man. Stripped of the science and emotionalism in our debates, we will be left with the very heartbeat of our argument for the honoring of human lives: that Christ's blood was shed to remove all memory of our sin from before the Father.

Friends, let us do more than merely hold a conviction - let us act upon it. Let us work diligently and speak bravely for the lives of the unborn. Let us pray earnestly for the softening and salvation of those both administering and receiving abortions. Let us find ways to support those seeking life for their babies - volunteering our time, organizing fundraising. Let us work earnestly for the removal of this anniversary.

Some memories are best, forgotten.

30 Day Book Challenge! Day 16: Think About It

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Day 16: What is a book you would recommend to an ignorant/close-minded/racist person?

Wow, suddenly after all sorts of silly questions like "what is a book that you hate?" comes a very serious query. Unfortunately, I'm a bit at a loss for the answer. My first thought was Mere Christianity, and I still think that is what I would recommend but... I've never been able to finish the book, so it feels rather funny to say I would recommend it.

What's that you say? Oh! I've tried to read it several times, but, in the words of Robert Frost, "something there is that doesn't love a wall" - or, in this case, doesn't allow me the privilege of finishing another C.S. Lewis.

For example:

- I checked it out from the library, but had to return it when I was only half-way through.

- A few months later, I checked it out from the library again, and, since it had been a while, re-started the book, only to have to return it when I was about half-way through.

- A year or so later, I bought the book to eliminate any difficulties of having to return it before being done... Sitting in the Chicago airport I was about - you guessed it! - half-way through when my plane boarded and I left it lying beside my vacated seat. I hope whoever picked it up had better luck finishing it than I!

Anyway, I am not at all satisfied with this answer, but I don't know that I can do any better at this present moment. Do you have any better-thought-out suggestions?